The forest wind trembled.
The moonlight fractured, as though refusing to touch the figure emerging from the darkness. Ae Qing froze—her breath sharp, her bird tightening its claws against her shoulder. The air thickened, heavy with an old, ancient memory she did not recognize but somehow feared.
Then she stepped forward.
Tall. Wrapped in layers of charcoal-grey silk. Not walking—gliding. Her face veiled with thin shadow-twisted fabric, her eyes hidden yet burning with a glow that made the trees bow slightly toward her.
A Seer.
Not mortal. Not celestial.
Something in-between, just like Ae Qing.
The Seer's voice was soft and broken, as if every word cost her a piece of her life.
"Child of Shengxin… you wander too close to the border of fate."
Ae Qing swallowed. "Who are you?"
"One who sees what must be seen," the Seer whispered. "One who hears the screams before they happen."
The forest shuddered again.
Ae Qing's fingers tightened around the feathered ring. "Why are you here?"
The Seer tilted her head. "To guide you. Before the storm breaks open."
Something inside Ae Qing cracked.
Guide me?
Guide me for what?
She took one shaky step toward the Seer. "Tell me the truth. Why us? Why the seven of us must die? What have we done? What sin did we commit before even understanding who we are?"
The trees stilled. Her voice rose, raw and shaking.
"I know I am a ruler. I know I must be selfless and calm and patient. I know I must be the bridge between gods and demons. But…" her voice broke, "what did we do? Why do the gods not show mercy? Why are we hunted from every side? Why must we carry this curse?"
Her bird chirped once—a trembling, frightened sound.
Ae Qing's throat tightened further, grief and rage burning through her chest.
"Why must we die?"
The Seer's hands, thin and pale as moonlight, reached out but stopped before touching her.
"Because your existence was not chosen."
"It was created."
Ae Qing felt her heart plummet.
"What… does that mean?"
The Seer's cloak fluttered with a sound like a thousand dying prayers.
"You and the other six… were born from the remains of an ancient war. Your souls carry shards of the first divine oath—the oath that broke the heavens."
Ae Qing shook her head. "No… no. We're just rulers. Protectors. Nothing divine was asked of us—"
"Yet everything divine was forced upon you."
Silence thundered between them.
Ae Qing staggered back. Her legs trembled.
She thought of the others—
their tired eyes,
their unhealed wounds,
their attempts to smile through the nightmares.
"I can't let them die," she whispered, tears slipping down her cheek. "Not again. Not anymore. I can't—"
The Seer leaned forward, voice sharp like shattering glass.
"Then change the destiny that was never yours."
Ae Qing's breath caught.
The Seer continued:
"Fight the gods if you must."
"Bargain with the demons if you dare."
"Or break the world apart and rebuild it with your own blood."
The forest quaked around them.
Ae Qing's ring burned hot—like molten gold. The bird on her shoulder spread its wings, glowing faintly with the same golden-brown hue.
The Seer's final words fell like a prophecy carved in bone:
"But remember this, Princess Ae Qing—"
The wind stopped.
The shadows stilled.
"You were born to die."
"But you were also born to defy death."
And with that, the Seer dissolved into the darkness—
as if she had never existed at all.
Leaving Ae Qing alone.
With her fear.
Her fury.
Her destiny.
And the first spark of rebellion burning in her chest.